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The core Foodnuts met last week and had a great foodie evening.  It is raining like crazy here in Southern Cal right now, so what could be better than soup and sandwich, only upgraded to divine gourmet.. the meal was followed by a great glass of port, and –are you ready? Girl Scout Cookies, as they are in season right now. We were so entranced with the food that we did not even take photos. I do have a couple nice shots of  the leftovers though.
Here goes.

Dutch Onion Soup

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 55 Minutes
Makes: 6 servings
4 sweet onions, sliced
3 T vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
½ cups port wine
6 cups Wolfgang Puck Organic Beef-Flavored Broth
2 springs fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
¼ t. ground black pepper
12 slices French bread (1/2 in thick)
1 ½ cups grated Gouda cheese-hence the “Dutch”

Heat oil in 6 quart saucepot over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring often
Add celery and cook and stir for 3 min. Add port, broth, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper , stirring to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot.
Reduce heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaves and adjust seasoning with salt. Heat broiler. Sprinkle bread with cheese Broil until cheese is melted. Put soup into 6 bowls, top with bread and any extra cheese.

Copyright 2005, Ina Garten. Delicious! My daughter made these for me one evening this summer and it was just wonderful! Didn’t include resting time of 20 minutes.

45 min | 20 min prep   SERVES 4         ( We served 7!)- Louise

BEEF

• 2-3 lbs filet of beef, trimmed and tied
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room at temperature
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh coarse ground black pepper

SAUCE

• 3/4 cup good mayonnaise (Hellmans)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon white prepared horseradish    (or to taste)-Louise
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• kosher salt

FOR THE SANDWICH

• 1 loaf unsliced health bread or unsliced multi-grain bread (or french rolls or other hearty bread) -Louise
• arugula
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. TO COOK THE BEEF:.
2. Preheat oven to 500ºF.
3. Place the beef on baking sheet and pat the outside dry with a paper towel.
4. Mix the unsalted butter and mustards together in a small bowl and spread the mixture over the beef with your hands.
5. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper.
6. Roast in the oven for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium-rare.
7. Remove the beef from oven, cover lightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room tempearture for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice fillet thickly(personal preference, I like mine thin).
8. SAUCE:.
9. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve at room temperature.
10. TO MAKE THE SANDWICH:.
11. Cut the bread into 1/4″ thick slices.
12. Spread 4 of the slices thickly with the Mustard Horseradish Sauce.
13. Top with slices of beef and arugula and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
14. Spread 4 more slices of bread very lightly with butter and place butter side down, on top of the beef.
15. Enjoy, they are divine!

Sorry- You had to be there--Make your own!!!

Tupperware Leftovers

Dutch Apple Babies

In my continuing love affair with eggs, I made the perfect Breakfast or Brunch dish for Christmas Morning. The secret is in choosing the right pan, as it will rise to ridiculous heights depending. Check the picture. Someone gave me these cool little individual casserole pans which I had never used. They were perfect, but we did take them out of the pans to serve, as I did not want eaters sctatching the pans. Really really easy!! Beyond easy…and slathered with syrup……and each person gets their very own….

Dutch Apple Baby

1 large apple
4 large eggs
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. milk
¼ c butter
Cinnamon
Powdered sugar
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 450

Wash, peel and core apple, slice fairly thin. (may wait until just before using in recipe to avoid browning of apple slices)

Batter: Whirl eggs and flour in blender until smooth. Add milk and whirl to mix well. (You can use a whisk instead.)

In a 10-12 in frying pan or an 9-14 in oval pan, oven proof, melt the butter. Immediately pour in the batter. (size of pan affects the rising of the batter)

Scatter apple slices over the batter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.( I added some dried cranberries just for color)

Bake at 450 until Dutch Baby is puffed and top is brown. About 20 min. A knife inserted into the Dutch Baby will come out clean. Serve immediately.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve from pan or slide onto a serving plate. Squeeze lemon juice to taste , cut into wedges if you used just one pan, and with maple syrup or a homemade raspberry syrup.

Okay, enough about all these wonderful dishes you are posting. I want to let you in on my latest experiment. I am trying to get a really easy way to make a sort of soft boiled or poached egg. I noticed this cool egg cup in my cupboard, and decided to just crack a raw egg into it and cook it in the microwave. Some little angel whispered in my ear that it might be a good idea to cover the cup with a towel, just in case.  I made a guess and put it in for 50 seconds. I was surprised by some really strange pops and other noises, and when I opened the door, the towel was off the eggcup, the egg was out of the eggcup and nestled in the towel, and and I enjoyed my very first over cooked microwaved soft-boiled flying egg! Next time maybe 30 seconds?? (Earned my nickname this time for sure).

We spent a couple very pleasant hours in Branson, Mo with  former Executive Chef John Blansit from John Q Hammons looking at Wyndam Resort Vacation Homes. I can recommend  it for anyone interested in a vacation home, but all we came away with was one of his family’s favorite recipes which he makes for family get togethers.

It includes all the best of what foodies love, butter, lobster, bacon. I will make it for us when we get back. I have to test the recipe first!!

I suspect Matt is drooling just at the thought of it all…

Fake Hollandaise– easy!

1/4 c. real mayonaise

1/4 c. sour cream

1/2 t. dijon mustard or to taste

1/8 t. cayenne pepper or to taste

juice of 1/2 lemon or to taste

Stir all ingredinets well. Add sm amt of yellow food coloring. Stir. Cook 40 seconds in microwave. Stir and keep warm until served.

Recipe serves 4 and may be doubled.

Toast english muffins with canadian bacon or ham on top in toaster oven or oven. Poach an egg for each muffin and top with sauce. Garnish with paprika.

Served best with Bloody Marys or Mimosas, and really good friends!!